Most acute illnesses are transient, harmless and necessary to establish lasting immunity. The best treatment is often no treatment at all, aside from gentle supportive measures such as increased fluid intake, steam inhalation, dietary changes, additional vitamin C and rest. Fever is often a self healing response to stress, germs or other environmental influences and should be left alone. However, high fever, persistent and severe symptoms may overwhelm the patient and call for intervention. Benefits and risks for either conventional or alternative treatment will be discussed. When a patient continues to feel sick after an acute illness, or has a relapse, his or her natural life energy is likely to have been depleted and chronic ill health may set in. A constitutional homeopathic remedy at such time will facilitate speedy recovery.

By definition, chronic illness is persistent and often progressive, and spontaneous permanent cure rarely occurs. Intervention is usually needed. There is a significant difference between traditional (allopathic) and holistic (homeopathic, chinese herbal, acupuncture, etc.) treatment methods. Former (allopathic) view the symptoms of a disease as the disease itself and seek to suppress them. The treatment is partial, directed towards a germ, an organ or organ system, and generic - all patients with a certain disease get similar medication by protocol. Latter (holistic) are directed towards cure from within, through gentle stimulation of the immune system as a whole. The treatment is individualized and directed towards the patient, not his or her disease. It seeks to enhance the general well being.